All premium airlines have frequent flier programs. Are you already a member or should you join one? The answer is YES you should, but why and how to play the game?
﻿I almost lost a few nights' sleep when we were in Bangkok and I heard our son's girlfriend didn't have a Finnair Plus card. Fortunately that has been fixed now!I'll write from the Finnair Plus program's point of view since it's my most active program at the moment. I also have Lufthansa and Air France/KLM cards. Also, I write from a leisure flyer's angle.I hope I can give you some useful practical advice. I read recently that there might be some changes in the Finnair Plus program later next year. It seems to be a trend (I'm not talking about Finnair here) that we might be given points for euros spent in the future. I think it's quite ok. Always check the terms and conditions of your program.

DYKWIA-asenne: "etkö tiedä kuka minä olen?" ;). Liittyy edelliseen kohtaan. FlyerTalk-kieltä (ks. viimeinen vinkki).Here's some useful vocabulary:Points: you get points from flying but also from credit cards, hotel stays etc. I don't choose the hotel that gives the FF points but the best one. The hotel is such an important part of the trip. Tier points: you get them only from flying. Tier points determine your elite flyer level. Finnair has basic, silver, gold and platinum levels.FF (frequent flyer): someone who has other than the basic card. Some FFs look down to the lower level cards but don't let it spoil your fun.DYKWIA-attitude: "don't you know who I am? ;) It's FlyerTalk-talk (see the last tip).
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This is the new business class in the A350s coming next year.Photo Finnair

Tip 4: I don't want to advise anybody to get into debt, but take a credit card that gives you points for each euro you spend. You can and should pay the balance each month. I get a lot of points this way as I pay all my flights and hotels with a certain card and some other expenses with an other.Vinkki 5: mieti mikä on sinulle järkevin tapa käyttää pisteitä. Jos matkustat economy-luokassa, pistetilisi kasvaa valitettavan hitaasti. Älä silti masennu. Ehkä voit käyttää pisteitäsi Euroopan lentojen matkustusluokan korotuksiin alkaen 7500 pistettä/ suunta Pohjois-Euroopassa.Tip 5: think about which is your best use of the points. If you fly economy, the sad truth is that the points don't accumulate fast. Don't dispair! Maybe you could use the points for European upgrades starting at 7500 points one way in Northern Europe.

Kun tiedän tämän, voin laskea nopeasti esimerkiksi onko sellainen tarjous, josta ei saa lainkaan pisteitä, kannattava vai ei juuri minulle. Usein ei.Tip 6: calculate what the real value of a point, or rather 1000 points, is to you.I use my points for long haul upgrades, so it goes like this:A Singapore business class ticket is about 3500 euros, the economy ticket is, let's say, 800 euros. The difference is 2700 euros and the upgrade costs (yes, think about the points as if they were money) 120000 points. So 1000 points' value for me about 22 euros.This way I can quickly decide for exemple if an offer which doesn't give points in valuable for me or not. Often it is not.

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Nykyisissä 330:ssä lempipaikkani on "valtaistuinpaikka" 4A.
Se on mahtavan yksityinen ja kaikille tavaroilleni on riittävästi tilaa.
My favourite seat is "the throne seat" 4A in the current long haul 330 fleet.
I love the privacy and two tables gives enough space for all my stuff.
Photo Finnair

Singaporeen tai Tokioon ei juuri ole business-tarjouksia ja jos seuraava matkani on sinne päin, säästän pisteet niiden lentojen korotuksiin. Esimerkiksi viime kesänä säästin 3000 euroa, kun ostin edestakaisen korotuksen Osakan lennoilleni 120 000 pisteillä. Erinomainen tapa käyttää pisteet, vai mitä?Tip 7: sometimes you have to sit on the points, don't spend them immediately! They are valid for three years. For exemple: if I have 120000 points in my account and my next trip is to Bangkok or New York. I'm not going to use the points as there often are good business class campaign rates on these routes or anyway the cash rates are lower. However, Tokyo and Singapore usually have no business class campaigns and my second trip is over there so I use my points for upgrades. E.g last summer I saved over 3000 euros when I used 120 000 points for a return upgrade to Osaka. Excellent use of points, wasn't it?

Tip 8: even if you have only a few points, don't forget about them. You can always give them to a family member (there is a little fee). Or check the Finnair Plus store. They have some great offers for 1000 points and money combined. I bought a Lisa Johansson-Pape lamp recently for a much cheaper price than as compared to a department store.Vinkki 9: Pisteitä voi myös ostaa, mutta se ei minusta ole yleensä hyvä kauppa, mutta kannattaa tietysti tarkistaa.

Tip10: don't take this too seriously or you'll might have to become a member of the FlyerTalk community which might cause headache, sleepless nights, overweight (no more time to go to the gym) and fed up friends. I think my friends are quite happy that I started this blog... :)